CHILE: FAMILY OF EX-PRESIDENT EDUARDO FREI MONTALVA FILES HOMICIDE COMPLAINT 25 YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH.
Two days after the 25th anniversary of his death, the family of former Chilean President Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964-1970) filed a court complaint alleging that he had been assassinated by poisoning. The family based its accusations on a Belgian university investigation that found mustard gas in the body of the former leader of the Partido Democrata Cristiano (PDC). Frei Montalva opposed the government of Socialist President Salvador Allende (1970-1973), but he also became a leading critic of the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).
Belgian lab finds mustard-gas traces in body
The family filed the complaint on Jan. 24, naming unspecified "groups of individuals related to military intelligence" under the Pinochet regime. Frei Montalva died at the age of 71 on Jan. 22, 1982, from septic shock as he recovered from stomach surgery at a Santiago clinic.
Courts, the family, and other associates who insist the former leader was assassinated by poisoning have investigated the case for years. Even the doctor who operated on him, Augusto Larrain, has said he believes the post-surgery infection suffered by Frei Montalva was intentionally caused by some "chemical element." He acknowledged, however, that he had no proof.
"Today we have the firm, well-founded conviction that ex-President Frei Montalva did not die from natural causes," said his son, former President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (1994-2000), during an emotional memorial ceremony on Jan. 22. "He said in the 1950s that 'the truth has its hour' and it is good for the country to know that the hour of truth for Eduardo Frei Montalva has arrived and it is a cruel and brutal truth: Eduardo Frei was assassinated."
Local media reports said a laboratory of the Gent University in Belgium had prepared the report that found mustard-gas traces, but Frei Ruiz-Tagle refused to elaborate.
The judge handling the investigation, Alejandro Madrid, also refused to comment, saying only that he would await a second, definitive report from the Belgian university and reports from other sources.
As he left the court after filing the complaint, Frei said there were "too many strange things" around his father's case, including lost medical reports, an unauthorized autopsy, and continuous surveillance of him by unidentified individuals before he was hospitalized.
"We have always said we want to know the truth and this is a substantial advance," said Frei, who is a senator and serves as president of the Senate...
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